Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Jason Hayes (left), a 1996 Malakoff High School graduate, is welcomed to the Malakoff ISD school board Aug. 15 by Board President Jason Dalrymple, after Hayes was sworn in to fill the term of former trustee Jerry Spiva, who resigned from the board.

MALAKOFF–Malakoff Independent School District (MISD) trustees voted Aug. 15 to adopt the 2022-23 district budget and to set the tax rate, the latter of which fell seven cents from last fiscal year.
MISD Business Manager Kim Spencer said the district’s property valuations increased 37.63%, meaning the tax rate decrease from $1.1722 per $100 valuation to $1.1046 generated more money for the school district.
Spencer said some of that tax revenue increase was offset by increased recapture payments by MISD. Recapture refers to the state’s “Robin Hood” plan of school funding, which takes property tax proceeds from property-rich districts and gives them to poorer Texas school districts.
“A lot more money is coming in, but thanks to recapture, it’s not all staying here,” said Board Member Gary Woolverton.
The budgeted expenditures went from $23,911,412 in the 2021-22 fiscal year to $27,220,171 for the 2022-23 fiscal year. Spencer said that expenditure increase includes debt service for the $72 million worth of bond-funded improvements that district voters approved in 2021.
Also included in the expenditure increase is a projected $4.7 million worth of recapture money that the district must send elsewhere, according to Spencer. The business manager added that MISD’s recapture payment increased $2 million in one year. The board also gave Superintendent Don Layton authority to write the check to pay Malakoff’s recapture payment.
Also, the board approved the district’s vehicle, property and liability insurance for 2022-23. Spencer said the policy (bought through Hibbs-Hallmark & Company) increased $77,000 from last fiscal year, costing $269,000. With the cyber liability policy, that cost moves to $280,000, Spencer said.
One event Spencer attributed to the increase was the insurance-covered damage at Tool Elementary School during the Feb. 2021 freeze, as well as the loss of a district-owned Chevrolet Suburban in a traffic accident. The business manager said the district had a loss ratio of 87%, meaning that 87% of the premiums paid by the district in one year went toward damage repair.
Further, the board heard the superintendent’s goals. Layton said one of those goals deals with security measures that include door checks. “Security, it has to be our No. 1 goal right now,” Layton stated.
In addition, Layton said the district is “fully hired out and fully certified, which not many districts can say right now.” The superintendent also noted that MISD has increased its number of bus drivers.
The board also learned that MISD received a 95 overall score on the 2021-22 state accountability rating. Layton said Malakoff is the only district in Henderson County to receive an A. “We are extremely proud of all students and staff,” Layton remarked.
In other business, the board:
• Approved the appraisers and appraisal calendar for the 2022-23 school year.
• Approved the second reading of Update 119 to its local policy.
• Approved a legal services retainer agreement with the Walsh Gallegos law firm, which Layton said featured a $1,000 retainer for the firm, which he said has a long relationship with MISD.